The present invention generally relates to processing of raw meat into a very low-fat meat having excellent functionality, as well as to meat products of the so-called fat-free variety. More particularly, the present invention relates to bacon products which have a very low fat content, which meat products originate from meat raw materials having typical fat percentage values for natural or conventional sources of meat protein. These sources are processed into bacon products which can be made from pork or any other meat so as to provide a bacon product of extremely low fat content, including a product falling within the fat-free category. As employed herein, the term "meat" refers to beef, pork or ham, turkey, chicken or other fowl, or any other edible flesh products suitable for use as food.
The level of fat included in diets is of concern in many channels, particularly with respect to meat products or foods which contain animal-originating meat components. Meat food products are available which fall into the generally low-fat category. For example, important progress has been made in providing uncooked raw meat supplies which have what might be considered to a low-fat content, on the order of about 10 weight percent or even 5 weight percent, based upon the total weight of the raw meat supply. Traditionally, many meat products have been perceived by certain groups as being products that are relatively high in fat content. Some of these are bacon type products.
Various bacon, bacon-like or bacon-appearing products have been developed over the years. For example, it is generally known to combine sources of meat and/or vegetable and to form same into a shape of a finished product or of an intermediate product. It is also heretofore known that two or more different meat and/or vegetable compositions can be coextruded into a simulated meat block or product. In one such an approach, layers of differently appearing turkey batters are coextruded in an alternating manner in order to form a simulated bacon slab which has a fat level lower than traditional pork belly bacon but not necessarily very low fat or fat-free. Such a slab is then suitable for slicing in a generally conventional manner. Often, these slices are shingled and packaged for consumer distribution during normal trade channels for bacon products. While these types of products fill an important commercial need, other needs are not met.
It would desirable to have a bacon type of product which can be of the low-fat variety but which need not be composed of turkey. It would be particularly important from a taste and texture point of view if such a simulated bacon product could be a pork product when such is desired, but a pork product that still falls within the low-fat category. Even more desirable would be such a product which is very low in fat, preferably one which can be designated as fat-free.
More particularly, consumer perception has developed to the extent that there is a desire to have bacon-like products which are even lower in fat content than a typical low-fat level of 5% or less. Ideally, having such a product fall within the fat-free category is especially desirable. The term "fat-free" is meant to correspond to current guidelines which are followed by the USDA permit many packaged meat products to be labelled as "fat-free" provided the amount of fat in the packaged, meat product is less than 0.5 gram of fat per the nutritional "reference amount" of grams per serving of the meat product. This translates to a weight percent which can vary depending upon particular meat products. Such a product can thus be properly designated as "free" of fat, and nutritional labeling properly specifies a zero ("0") as the reported fat content.
Certain fat-free meat products which meet governmental guidelines such as discussed above have been commercialized on a production-scale basis. Typically, these are fat-free turkey and chicken whole muscle (often breast) products. Other fat-free products have been formulated from traditionally higher fat content sources. Such products can include reformulation in order to reduce fat levels by the inclusion of non-meat components to generally dilute the fat present in the meat which is included within the batter, grind or emulsion from which such a product is formed. It is often the case that these types of fat-free products, when subjected to taste tests, score significantly lower than corresponding products which are not of the fat-free variety.
Proposed approaches in the past have included processing a relatively high-fat meat supply into one that is of reduced fat content. Often, these types of procedures include cooking, grinding and/or centrifuging as a basic approach for separating a fat-rich phase from another phase having a lower fat content. The phase having a lower fat content typically contains lean fractions which unfortunately had become denatured during processing, and the functionality of this phase often is reduced substantially, rendering it unsuitable and/or undesirable for use in many applications. Also, approaches such as these often do not provide a functional, reduced fat meat having a fat percentage on the order of the low-fat or no-fat products which are the subject of the present invention.
The present invention addresses the need for reduced fat meat which has an exceptionally low-fat content so as to qualify as having a zero reported fat content, even including pork, while at the same time not being denatured to any significant extent in order to thereby provide a highly functional meat product which is exceptionally low in fat content. It is especially desirable that a fat-reduced raw meat material be provided which makes possible the preparation of bacon types of products. Substantial progress along these lines has been made by approaches such as that of U.S. Pat. No. 5,382,444, incorporated hereinto by reference. By following approaches such as this one, it has been possible to provide valuable undenatured and very low-fat meat products, but not necessarily fat-free products and/or low-fat products of pork and other meats having relatively high natural fat contents.
Fat-reduction of the types generally mentioned hereinabove reduce the meat to small sized pieces. For example, various such procedures reduce the fat content of meats to levels lower than might otherwise be readily achieved by manual or hand trimming. Typically, these include heating of the meat, grinding or comminuting of the meat to small particle sizes, centrifuging, treating with selected additives or diluents and/or adding non-fat supplements to reduce the percentage of pre-existing fat relative to the total mass without actually removing fat. These procedures have been employed singly or in some varying degrees of combination. Each has its disadvantages. Heating frequently results in some measure of denaturization. Grinding or comminution provides a quality and appearance which can be unacceptable where whole muscle tissue is expected or desired. Addition of diluents, additives or supplements alters qualities to an undesirable extent. Moreover, each of these fat removal or dilution procedures fails to remove sinew from the meat and therefore fails to address disadvantages attendant to the presence of sinew, including toughness, chewiness and/or the presence of fat cells associated with or attached to sinew.
As used herein, the term sinew refers to gristle and other connective tissues which are naturally incorporated with muscle tissue. This sinew is generally intimately interwoven with the muscle tissue. Fatty deposits are associated with and attached to the intimately interspersed sinew, which is typically not susceptible to removal by hand trimming, for example. The present invention recognizes that the removal of a significant and substantial portion of sinew without grinding the meat is an important objective, coupled with the objective of using such meat in making bacon products according to the invention.